Canton 8th-grader wins spelling bee in 52nd round

EAST PEORIA — Eleanor Fournier won the Journal Star Grand Final Spelling Bee on Friday afternoon, outlasting Jerrey Nelson in the 52nd round.

Like two prize fighters going toe-to-toe in the ring, the two eighth-graders squared off for more than 20 rounds against one another, spelling words like "zucchini," "egregious," and "ephemeral" without missing a beat at the competition staged at the studios of WEEK-TV Channel 25.

Nelson, 13, a student at Princeton Christian Academy, was finally tripped up in spelling "mandir," a Hindu temple, while Fournier, 13, correctly spelled "voortrekker," a South African pioneer, to secure a trip to Washington, D.C., for the Scripps National Spelling Bee in May.

A student at Ingersoll Middle School in Canton, Fournier has been to the spelling bee finals before. She finished in third place last year and second the year before that. "She was so close before. I'm so glad because I know how hard she worked," said Vincent Fournier, Eleanor's father.

Vincent Fournier attributed his daughter's success to hard work and "a photographic memory."

Asked what was the toughest word she faced of the more than 50 she spelled correctly, Eleanor Fournier said it might have been "pneumatic."

Nelson, who correctly spelled "fuselage" and "fusillade" before spelling "sarsaparilla" successfully in the 50th round, credited practicing long hours with her mother, Leonora Nelson of Wyanet, as helping her prepare for the contest. "I think we studied for about six hours Thursday night," Jerrey Nelson said.

Eleven students from across central Illinois participated in the spelling bee hosted by WEEK-TV newsman Garry Moore.

Steve Tarter covers city and county government for the Journal Star. He can be reached at 686-3260 or starter@pjstar.com. Follow him at Twitter@SteveTarter and facebook.com/tartersource.